Guilty plea in Tropical Storm Irene fraud case

Lease agreements forged by victim of Irene, officials say

By Robert Gavin

Updated 8:21 pm, Friday, January 15, 2016

Albany

A Tropical Storm Irene victim who lied about his monthly rent payments to scam $16,426 in benefits from the Federal Emergency Management Agency pleaded guilty Friday to disaster-related fraud charges in U.S. District Court.

Court papers show Clapper's home was rendered uninhabitable by Tropical Storm Irene, which on Aug. 28, 2011 walloped Schoharie County, triggering flash flooding that wreaked havoc. In September 2011, Clapper moved to Westerlo in Albany County which, like Schoharie, was among the counties struck by what President Barack Obama declared a major disaster.

Clapper's monthly rent for the Westerlo home was $500 but he claimed to FEMA it was $1,200 and that he could not afford it.

Clapper submitted a false lease agreement, rent and security deposit information and receipts for a home on Route 443 when he actually lived elsewhere.

The documents were submitted between September 2011 and August 2012.

"The defendant knew these lease agreements and receipts were forgeries and contained falsehoods at the time he submitted each of them to FEMA," Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett stated in a court filing detailing the proof in the case.

Clapper technically faces up to 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 but would likely face far less severe penalties under federal sentencing guidelines.